Aberle, 43, was an executive vice president in charge of
Qualcomm’s technology licensing business, which generates about
two-thirds of profit, the company said in a statement yesterday.

The unit has more than doubled its earnings and revenue
with Aberle in charge, Qualcomm said. Mollenkopf has said his
top priority is to get more licensing revenue and chip sales
from makers of phones that work on China Mobile Ltd.’s network.
The world’s largest wireless carrier is upgrading to the long
term evolution, or LTE, standard, which will boost demand for
Qualcomm’s chips and revenue from licensing, the company has
said.

“Derek has been instrumental in creating and growing many
important areas of Qualcomm’s business,” Mollenkopf said in the
statement.

Qualcomm shares rose less than 1 percent to $77.07 at
yesterday’s close in New York before the announcement, leaving
them up 3.8 percent this year.

Mollenkopf replaced Paul Jacobs, who moved to the chairman
role, at the company’s annual shareholder meeting last week.
Aberle has a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University
of California, Santa Barbara, and a law degree from the
University of San Diego.